1. Field
The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for determining an occurrence of an electrical fault in a channel of an ultrasound probe.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses transmit ultrasound signals generated by transducers of a probe to an object and receive information about echo signals reflected from the object, thereby obtaining at least one image of an internal part of the object (e.g., soft tissues or blood flow). In particular, ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses are used for medical purposes including observation of the interior of an object, detection of foreign substances, and diagnosis of damage to the object. Such ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses provide high stability, display images in real time, and are safe due to the lack of radioactive exposure, compared to X-ray apparatuses. Therefore, ultrasound diagnosis apparatuses are widely used together with other image diagnosis apparatuses including a computed tomography (CT) apparatus, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, and the like.
As the number of transducers arranged in a probe increases, the number of channels for transmitting and receiving ultrasound waves increases accordingly. Since each of the channels includes an electronic circuit, a leakage current may occur due to shorting of a transducer or a fault in internal circuitry of a channel. The leakage current causes a probe to malfunction.
In particular, in a two-dimensional (2D) matrix probe, a circuit for summing signals received via a plurality of channels is added to the probe for the purpose of reducing the number of output signals from the probe. Thus, it is difficult to determine whether a leakage current has occurred simply by checking an output signal or impedance.